A public pavilion for the Maudsley Charity promoting awareness of mental health, with spaces for learning, meeting, exhibition and events connected by a grand staircase.

Maudsley CharityCamberwell, London£4.65 million1,550m2

“This precisely considered learning centre provides an elegant oasis of openness that links a south London psychiatric facility with its historic urban surroundings.”
Ellis Woodman, Building Design

“ORTUS is a resonant work – whispering, but muscular with it. It allows itself to be liberated by the fact that, once the technical requirements have been dealt with, the brief is pure: it is to make places for people to speak to each other, as they might once have done in a garden outside Athens, or on a hill in Palestine.”
Rowan Moore, Slow Burn City

“We wanted to prove to our clients that a few thoughtful, simple, repeated details and a careful choice of materials was all that was necessary. There was no need to try and add more.”
Miranda MacLaren, Architect

Site is within Maudsley Hospital Campus on Denmark Hill, south London

Stagger from three to four storeys across sloping site communicated externally via expressed floorplates

Open stairwell creates circulation and informal auditorium space

Public café at ground floor helps to destigmatise preconceptions of mental health